In October, the commune Montreux welcomed a new colleague to the street and public green space maintenance department – a colleague with four-wheel drive and 109 HP, this new colleague goes by the name of the Aebi VT450 Vario.
The multipurpose transporter from Aebi is already the second of its kind at the Commune de Montreux at Lake Geneva succeeding there previous Unimog-vehicle.
Jean-Pilippe Leumann, Director of the Road Maintenance Department and his team, were not only convinced by the technical concept, the manoeuvrability and the compact design, but also by the versatility of this carrier, which lived up to its motto “One Idea, many solutions”. The VT450 Vario will be used for not only winter service, but also for transporting excavation, stones, grass and tree cuttings. Around 75 staff work in this 35 km² commune, to provide it’s 25,000 residents with a clean and safe infrastructure. Jean-Philippe Leumann and his team work tirelessly to keep the “Riviera of Switzerland” in pristine condition at all times. More than 1,000 meters of height at numerous gradients have to be managed daily, with some parts of the city lying 1,400 meters above sea level.
Single sourced solutions – easy, professional and custom-fit
Roland Binggeli, Sales Manager, Aebi & Co. West Switzerland commented “For us it is important, that our customers not only get a powerful vehicle, but also to offer them a ‘one stop shop’ to cater to their needs and requirements. This covers not only the vehicle but also the coordination of the attachments, enabling them to purchase winter and mowing attachments from a single source”
One of the attachments the Aebi VT450 Vario in Montreux is fitted with is the Schmidt MPC 26 snowplough. This single- blade snowplough with a clearing width of 2.14 meters is suited perfectly for the narrow track Aebi VT450. The automatic deviation system with two segments and the blade angle of 45° allows for aggressive snow clearance as well as the ability to safely drive over obstacles without damage to the snow plough. Furthermore, a powerful, mountable snow cutter blower is used for efficient snow clearance of high, hard and iced snow. The clearance of edge walls formed as a result of snow ploughing, is also possible with this snow cutter blower. A Schmidt de-mountable Stratos spreader will also be used for de-icing. With this powder-coated, stainless-steel spreader it is possible to combine solid, half-liquid and liquid spreading material. Therefore it has robust corrosion protection and is highly durable.
The handling of the control unit is simple and user friendly utilising the Schmidt CL control system. The CL Comfort kit consists of two wireless modules – one located on the spreader and the other in the driver’s cab. Once the two modules are synchronised, they form one unit.
Convincing concept and technology
The versatility of the Aebi VT450 Vario means that it can be easily modified via crane hook to change from a winter service vehicle to an aluminium dumping body or skip container for example. For optimum safety and driver comfort a rear view camera system is fitted alongside full suspension. This along with the step-less mechanical-hydrostatic power-split drive and about the easy to handle the joystick have proven very popular with the drivers, who work 3-shift operations in the winter service.
The speed and the attachments can be managed one handed; as soon as the drive lever is pulled back the vehicle drives backwards and will lift the front attachment automatically – Technology which not only does the thinking for you, but also saves you time.
We wish the Aebi VT450 and its colleagues from the commune Montreux every success during the summer and winter months.
